Introduction
Christ, now raised from the dead, will never die again; death
has no more power over Him! (see Rom. 6:9).
From the beginning of Christianity, his disciples have
proclaimed, “Christ is Risen!” and have thereby announced the
end of the kingdom of death and the inauguration of the new
People of Life, the Church, which is by God’s design to embrace
all humanity into one family.
Because Jesus Christ is Life (see John 11:17-27; 14:1-6) and
brings Life (see John 1:1-5; 10:7-15), His Gospel is the Gospel
of Life. “The Gospel of God's love for man, the Gospel of
the dignity of the person and the Gospel of life are a single
and indivisible Gospel” (Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, n.
2)
The Church, called to invite and lead all people to salvation in
Christ, proclaims and opens the door to that life which is
eternal. The gift of eternal life, however, presupposes the
natural gift of human life itself. In our day, this most basic
good and most fundamental right is under unprecedented attack,
particularly by abortion, which claims the most defenseless
human victims, and in greater numbers than any other form of
violence. It is the defense of the natural right to life that
gives rise to our particular charism.
The People of Life understand that the command to “love one
another” knows of no exceptions, and that no Christian can be
indifferent to attacks on human life. Nourished by the Biblical
call to rescue the vulnerable and defend the defenseless, many
have committed themselves to defend the lives of the poorest of
the poor – the unborn – and of others whose very right to life
is denied. Many, moreover, feel called by God to do this work of
justice on a full-time basis.
“Where life is involved, the service of charity must be
profoundly consistent. It cannot tolerate bias and
discrimination, for human life is sacred and inviolable at every
stage and in every situation; it is an indivisible good”
(EV, n.87). It is precisely that consistency that calls for a
new Culture of Life, in which the unborn child is treated with
the same care and protection as the born. The consistent ethic
of life, properly understood, recognizes that some rights are
more fundamental than others, and that life itself is the
condition for all the rest.
Within the consistent ethic, we are pastors and servants to the
unborn, a collective and visible voice for the voiceless
millions who have been killed and are yet in danger of being
killed by abortion. We call for the establishment of full
recognition of their rights and protection of their lives. We do
this fully realizing that without such recognition and
protection, every noble effort to establish justice in the human
community is undermined, every affirmation of human dignity is
contradicted, and peace between families, communities and
nations is threatened. As Pope John Paul II declared in
Christifideles Laici, “…[T]he common outcry, which is justly
made on behalf of human rights -- for example, the right to
health, to home, to work, to family, to culture -- is false and
illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental
right and the condition of all other personal rights, is not
defended with maximum determination” (n.38) and as Blessed
Teresa of Calcutta said, “The greatest destroyer of peace
today is abortion” (Speech to National Prayer Breakfast,
Washington DC, February 3, 1994).
God is therefore raising up in the Church priests and laity for
whom the primary focus of their lives and spirituality is to
restore recognition of the right to life where it is directly
denied. This is a response to the call issued in Evangelium
Vitae: “What is urgently called for is a general mobilization of
consciences and a united ethical effort to activate a great
campaign in support of life. All together, we must build a new
culture of life” (EV, n.95).
Maintaining the focus of the mission
Because the theme of “life” is so fundamental, it is also very
broad, and is therefore subject to the possibility of becoming
diluted or over-extended. The Missionaries of the Gospel of
Life, as an Association and in the lives of its individual
members, are always to maintain the clear focus of the
Association on the defense of the unborn. There are other key
“life issues” in which we specialize, but service to the unborn
is always primary.
We understand and present the defense of the unborn and the
vulnerable in the context of justice. Members will be eager, in
their presentations and in the exercise of their ministry, to
work to overcome the false division between “social justice”
ministries and “right to life” ministries, ever mindful that the
right to life is the core of social justice and impels the whole
Church toward works of social justice. The Association will be
particularly committed to fostering a proper understanding of
the consistent ethic of life.
We foster esteem and active collaboration with other right to
life organizations and with social justice ministries both
within and outside the Church.
Aims of the Association
Missionaries of the Gospel of Life seek to give witness before
the Church and the world to the priority of the right to life as
the foundation of all other rights, and to the absolute claims
to respect and protection that this right makes upon every
individual and community in the human family.
In that context, we seek to respond to the call to holiness, and
live out our vocation concretely by striving:
In short, we minister to the unborn child and to the pro-life movement.
Because cultures and their laws change, the particular shape of the attacks on
the right to life will change from generation to generation. However, as long as
humanity exists, its youngest, most vulnerable members will always need care and
protection, and those who bring them to birth will always need courage. Despite
the legal status of abortion, which has been condemned from the beginning of the
Church, the Association will always play a role in advocating for the unborn.
Moreover, the Gospel of Christ will always be the Gospel of Life, and as direct
attacks on the right to life take various forms throughout history, the
Association will bear witness to the Gospel and summon believers to respond to
its demands as the needs of the time require.
Means to Achieve our Aims
These goals are accomplished by traveling into local communities to strengthen
the work of the Church as it relates to the right to life, to minister to the
pro-life movement, and to reach out to the wider community by means of media and
other forms of public outreach.
Our spirituality
The Missionaries of the Gospel of Life seek to grow in the likeness of Christ as
they build a Culture of Life. To that end, our spirituality is marked by the
following characteristics:
Biblical
The Word of Life, found in the pages of the Sacred Text, is to be a constant
source of meditation and instruction, as well as the most frequently used
pastoral tool for preaching and teaching. Members are to be intimately familiar
with the pages of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, and are to always
deepen their ability to articulate for the people the Biblical message about the
sanctity of life, as it is found in every part of the Bible.
Prophetic
Counteracting the culture of death demands a prophetic spirituality. Our
teaching is not our own, and like the prophets, we nurture the spirit of
humility and awe that God should deign to speak His eternal word through mortal,
sinful instruments like ourselves. Yet, as Jesus did, we teach “with authority,”
because the Word we preach is His. The Gospel, always respectful of culture and
expressing itself in diversified cultural contexts, likewise challenges and
transforms culture. The prophet does not tell the future as much as he tells
the present, that is, interprets for people what God says about what is
going on in the world. We speak a word that is counter-cultural. It is a
prophetic word that challenges society to recognize the unborn as brothers and
sisters, and to therefore repent of practices and policies that destroy them or
put them at risk.
Because prophets are always persecuted, and because the abortion issue is
particularly volatile, we foster a particular attentiveness to accepting the
inevitable reality of persecution. Rooted in the Beatitudes, we seek the spirit
of the apostles who “rejoiced at having been counted worthy to suffer for the
sake of the Name” (Acts 5:41).
Liturgical
We foster a liturgical spirituality that “thinks and feels” with the ebb and
flow of the Church’s liturgical year. Our observance of liturgical seasons and
feasts is carried out with a special attentiveness to the lessons those seasons
and feasts present regarding the sanctity of life. The Association observes with
special solemnity certain special feast days particularly associated with this
theme and outlined in the Statutes.
Eucharistic
The Eucharist is Life itself, and therefore our spirituality is centered on the
Bread of Life. The members will meditate frequently and preach often about the
intimate links between our faith in the Eucharist and our commitment to the
defense of life.
Ecumenical
Members share the deep longing of Christ that His disciples would be one, and we
see in the Christian response to abortion one of the most practical and
effective arenas for authentic ecumenical collaboration. We are ecumenical to
the very fabric of our being, always thinking, speaking, and working in ways
that welcome our brothers and sisters of other denominations. We also work in an
inter-religious spirit, joining with people of good will from all religions.
Marian
The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, is a model for all mothers in her “Fiat”
to the gift of life. Members of the Association foster a devotion to her and
present her as a source of comfort, inspiration, and instruction to the
faithful.
In the light of our spirituality, there are certain key virtues that we seek to foster in ourselves and others. These include:
A spirit of joy.
Life is joyful, and defending life is a mission that should be carried out with
joy. We seek to foster, in ourselves and others, a “joyful sorrow,” that is, a
spirit that is always mourning because of its keen awareness of the ongoing,
unseen destruction of human life, and at the same time, is always serene and
rejoicing that death has been conquered by Jesus Christ, who is Risen and is
with us at all times.
A serene confidence.
“Have no fear. The outcome of the battle for life is already decided” (Pope
John Paul II, Homily at World Youth Day, Denver, CO, August 15, 1993). We
do, at the same time, have to work anxiously to be faithful to our own role in
proclaiming, celebrating and serving that victory. Despite all outward
appearances of the power of the culture of death, we foster, in ourselves and
others, a supreme and uninterrupted confidence that the tools of grace with
which God has equipped the People of Life are far more powerful and eternally
victorious.
A deep compassion.
At times, we have all “aborted” God’s will in our lives. We never look down on
those who have committed the sin of abortion or who promote it. They are not the
enemy, but rather are captive to the enemy. We seek to free them, as
their brothers and sisters who are no strangers to temptation, error, and sin.
This compassion is translated into a constant and effective invitation to the
healing and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, and tireless efforts for the conversion
of those who promote the culture of death. We also seek to assist those who have
repented, including former abortionists, to re-integrate themselves into
wholesome, life-giving activities and attitudes.
A radical solidarity
Pope John Paul II declared that the pro-life stance is one “of radical
solidarity with the woman” (Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p.206-207).
We do not seek to point fingers of condemnation, but rather to extend hands of
mercy that lift out of despair those who are tempted to abort a child, or who
endure the pain of having done so.
This radical solidarity stands at the same time with the child, in the awareness
that it makes no sense to choose one against the other, but rather only to
respond to mother and child by loving them both.
A strong courage
”The spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit,” St. Paul tells Timothy
(2Tim.1:7). Our work requires constant courage, which is nurtured at the feet of
our Lord, in the pages of Scripture, in incessant prayer, and by the example of
numerous saints and other historical figures who have fought against the
injustices of their times.
A constant readiness for public witness.
We do not shrink from the public spotlight, which is often where we need to be
in order to give voice to the voiceless and to reach the numbers of people we
need to reach in the short time we have to reverse the culture of death. “Let
your light shine before others,” the Lord said, always reminding us that the
glory goes to the Father (see Mt.5:16). Members will form their spirit according
to the plea of the Prophet, “Cry out full-throated and unsparingly; lift up your
voice like a trumpet blast!” (Is.58:1).
A passion for justice.
The sacrifices needed to build a Culture of Life can only be sustained when
there is a deep passion for justice. Christians believe in righteous anger,
which was exhibited by the Lord and His saints in the face of evil. We are angry
at what the culture of death does each day. We strive to submit our anger to the
Holy Spirit of God, not asking Him to extinguish it but rather to
channel it into a wholesome, energized passion which, always docile to the
promptings of the Spirit and obedient to authority, sustains us in the task at
hand. This is the basis for our total commitment to non-violence in the
cause of life.
These associates participate in four overarching spiritual disciplines for
personal formation, and to “flesh out” the spirituality and virtues of the
Association. These disciplines are prayer, study, community, and
witness.
Ministry Activities
The priests of the Association will participate in the various activities
outlined below, often together with the lay Associates, in response to
invitations they receive from dioceses, parishes, and pro-life organizations.
Parish visits – At the invitation of the local pastor, we visit parishes to preach the pro-life message at Masses, parish missions, or other parish gatherings in liturgical or educational settings. We meet with, train and strengthen local parish ministers in the pro-life dimensions of their work.
Assistance to clergy – We provide spiritual and practical assistance to the clergy of all denominations in the pro-life dimensions of their ministry.
Training seminars – We present training seminars about all aspects of the pro-life movement to priests, deacons, seminarians, laity, and ecumenical audiences.
Retreats – We offer pro-life retreats, which give participants an opportunity to see in their relationship with God the call to defend life, and to root all their pro-life activities in their relationship with God.
Presence at ministerial conferences – We are present, as members, participants, and exhibitors, at conferences at which specialists in different aspects of Church life and ministry gather. Our presence provides pro-life resources, networking and education to them.
Pro-life events – We participate in the events of local, national, and international pro-life organizations and Churches. We are invited to speak and pray at their conventions, banquets, seminars, prayer vigils, and abortion mill protests, to strategize with or minister to their members, and to provide a clerical presence where it is lacking.
Alternatives to Abortion and Healing After Abortion – We foster, promote, and interact with the many ministries, both within and beyond the Catholic Church, that provide alternatives to abortion and healing after abortion. We assist the Churches to connect their congregations with such resources. Our priests assist directly in training and carrying out counseling both before and after abortion, and in conducting retreats for those wounded by abortion, including all the family members of the aborted child. We also minister to medical personnel and their assistants who previously performed the abortion procedure and have repented.
Media activity – We produce and appear on radio and television broadcasts for local, national, and international media outlets to articulate the pro-life message and comment upon developments relevant to it.
Fostering political responsibility – Through non-partisan activities, we assist Churches and pro-life organizations to mobilize, equip, and educate their people to carry out their political responsibilities. This includes such activities as voter registration, distribution of non-partisan voter guides, and get-out-the-vote drives.
Schools – We speak at schools of every level to deliver the pro-life message to students and to equip and encourage the faculty and administration in this dimension of their work.
Participation in leaders’ meetings – On a
local, national, and international level, we participate in various meetings
with leaders of all religious, political, and cultural backgrounds to develop
strategy for the pro-life movement.
Individual counseling of members in government, media, and other leadership
roles – We hold personal and confidential meetings with leaders to discuss their
attitudes and actions regarding the right to life, and provide important
opportunities for conversion, guidance, and encouragement.
Dialogue – We foster respectful dialogue with
those who promote the Culture of Death, in such a way that, without compromising
our message, we can enable them to realize that they too share in the dignity
proper to every human life. By rediscovering their own dignity, they may be able
to rediscover that of the unborn child.
We also promote that dialogue of salvation which the Church carries out with all
who do not embrace the Christian faith or any faith at all. Many people of good
will share our concern about the right to life, and we collaborate actively with
them in its defense.
Liturgy and Prayer
Liturgical seasons and feasts
In accordance with its liturgical spirituality, the Association observes the
seasons and feasts of the Church calendar, drawing from all of them the insights
they bring regarding the sanctity of human life. There are certain liturgical
days which are particularly suited to the Association’s focus on the centrality
of the gift of life, and its special commitment to the unborn. We assist others
to study the meaning of these feasts and celebrate them in their local
communities with a pro-life focus.
Easter, the primary feast day for the entire
Church, is especially appropriate as the Association’s primary feast day,
because it is the Day of the Victory of Life. The Easter Triduum is celebrated
with special care and meditation on the implications for building a Culture of
Life.
The Annunciation (March 25) is observed with
special joy as the feast on which God became an unborn child, thus sanctifying
all life in the womb as he sanctified it at every stage. In the same manner, we
celebrate Christmas with a deep awareness that it is the feast of the
Incarnation, and therefore inherently proclaims the truth of the sanctity of all
human life.
The Immaculate Conception (December 8)
likewise carries the clear message of God’s relationship with human life at its
earliest stages, and the Association celebrates this feast with that truth in
mind.
The Holy Family is celebrated shortly after Christmas. The
family is the sanctuary of life, and the Association draws from this feast a
renewed commitment to defend and promote strong families.
St. Joseph (March 19), the “Just Man,” who had
the role of protecting the Holy Family, embodies the example for all fathers to
follow. The lack of willingness of the father of an unborn child is frequently
the cause of abortion. Honoring St. Joseph and teaching the faithful his example
can inspire men to carry out their proper role in defending life.
The Holy Innocents are honored every December 28, and the
Association will mark this day with special memorials to the countless innocents
slain by abortion.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose image brought about an end to the
practice of human sacrifice among the Aztecs, is the Patroness of the Unborn. On
her feast day, December 12, we commend to her care all unborn children and those
who defend them.
Other particularly significant feasts on the calendar of saints include:
April 13 – Blessed Margaret of Castello, OP, Patron of the
Unwanted
April 28 – St. Gianna Beretta Molla, who gave her life for her
unborn child. Patron of Mothers and Physicians.
September 5 – (Blessed) Mother Teresa of Calcutta
October 5 – St. Mary Faustina Kowalska, Patron Saint of Mercy,
who was given the Chaplet of Divine Mercy to pray in particular in reparation
for abortion.
October 16 – St. Gerard Majella, Patron Saint of Pregnant
Mothers and of Childbirth.
Personal Prayer
In the recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, pro-lifers should keep in mind
the historical and intrinsic connection between this devotion and the need to
invoke God’s mercy for the sin of abortion, as revealed in the Diary of St.
Faustina. It is also helpful to keep in mind the special Apostolic Blessing of
Pope John Paul II for those who say the chaplet for this particular intention.
In their daily prayers and Masses, members should keep in their intentions the
benefactors of the Association and the many prayer intentions that are sent in
from the general public, especially those related to women tempted to abort, to
families who have lost children to abortion, and to aborted babies themselves.
Priests of the Association are to offer Mass regularly for the intention of an
end to abortion and euthanasia. Likewise, Masses for the intentions and mission
of the Association, and for its benefactors and their intentions, are to be
offered frequently.
Because our Association serves the Church in all dimensions of its pro-life
mission, including prayer, members are encouraged to compose prayers related to
the right to life. Many of these prayers may prove useful for pastors and group
leaders as they serve their people.
Study and Reading
The teachings that shape the life and mission of our Association come above all
from the Word of God as found in Scripture and Tradition, and safeguarded and
taught by the Magisterium of the Church. Among the documents of the Magisterium,
we give primary emphasis to Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae
(The Gospel of Life), for which the Association is named. We see John Paul
II as the Pope of Life, and his encyclical, as well as the witness of his life,
lay out the contours of our mission and spirituality.
The teachings and example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, a strong voice for the
unborn and vulnerable, are a special source of instruction and inspiration for
us. In her meetings with Fr. Frank Pavone, Mother Teresa provided personal input
and encouragement to the work of Priests for Life.
We also study and promote the educational materials provided by Fr. Frank Pavone
and his pastoral team.
We gather for our library all materials published on the topic of abortion by
those who oppose it and by those who support it, and study this material. We
also gather and make available to the public any pro-life statements by bishops’
conferences or individual bishops anywhere in the world.
Membership in the Association
Lay persons who are already members of another Association may also join our
Lay Associates program, as long as the demands of both programs are not
contradictory.
The National Coordinator for the Lay Associates sees to it that regular
communication occurs between the Association and those training for and accepted
as Lay Associates. The Coordinator will make recommendations to the National
Director for the acceptance of Lay Associates, who will then make their
profession of promises in the presence of one of the clerical members of the
Association. The National Director may allow a Lay Associate to make his or her
promises in the presence of another priest (such as a pastor or spiritual
director of the associate’s choosing).
In the course of their travels, members of our Pastoral Team will meet with the
lay associates throughout the nation. The Coordinator will likewise see to it
that they are given information about specific pro-life projects and priorities
in which they will be encouraged to participate in accordance with their
individual circumstances.
The Structure of the Association within the Body of Christ
In Communion with the Church
The Association does not seek to replace existing structures in the Church or
the wider society that are engaged in the pro-life mission, but rather to
infuse them with renewed vigor and effectiveness. Where it is appropriate,
our teams of priests, deacons, and laity will assist in the building of local
efforts and the training of those who carry out those efforts.
There are many priests, deacons and laity in the Church who do pro-life work.
Our mission is neither to take their work from them nor to claim that we do it
better, but rather to encourage them in that work and help it to flourish. For
us, however, pro-life work is not merely an assignment or one aspect of
ministry. It is, rather, a life’s work, a vocation within a vocation. We have
the support of a community whose members are committed to a distinctive common
mission around the nation.
The Association carries out its work in collaboration with each local diocese,
seeking to advance the pastoral plans that have already been developed by the
local diocese to meet its particular needs regarding the pro-life mission.
At the same time, we provide to local efforts a national perspective, and the
benefit of our experience in developing strategies and networking with all the
existing resources of the pro-life movement. We bring these new resources to the
local diocese, so that a fruitful process of dialogue, mutual learning and
encouragement, and growth in effectiveness may occur.
The Proper Relationship of Clergy and Laity
The priests and deacons of our Association recognize that the laity are called
to defend human life by their very humanity, and participate in the Gospel
witness to life by virtue of their baptism and confirmation. The laity have a
particular call to sanctify the temporal order. We seek, therefore, not to
replace the work of the laity but rather to foster it. We assist all priests to
recognize and “stir into flame” the gifts that the Spirit generously bestows
upon the lay faithful.
The clergy in our association are pastors to the pro-life movement. Our mission
is to awaken consciences to the need to defend life, and once they are awakened,
to provide ongoing motivation, inspiration, teaching, and guidance. Through our
ministry, the lay faithful, in their pro-life activity, will constantly nourish
themselves at the source of this activity – the Lord and Giver of Life – and
through their activity will always return to Him as the ultimate goal of all
human effort.
Our Promises
One joins the Association by means of the profession of two promises, namely,
-- commitment to the defense of the right to life, and
-- availability for the mission of the Association.
The promises are directed toward both the interior commitment to justice and
charity which embraces our weakest brothers and sisters in the name of the Lord,
and to the external fulfillment of the demands of those virtues. The external
activity that is promised is always to be a fruit of the interior life which
members are committed to pursue.
Profession of the promises of the Association is made in the presence of the
National Director or his appointed delegate.
The formula of promises for the lay associates shall be as follows:
"I, _____________, in the presence of God the Father, the Creator of all Life, Jesus Christ the Son, the Resurrection and the Life, and the Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life, in the presence of Father ________ (National Director) and of this gathering of the People of Life, do joyfully promise, for the rest of my life, to live as a Lay Missionary of the Gospel of Life. I promise to defend my brothers and sisters whose right to life is under direct attack, and to be, especially for the unborn, the voice they do not have. . I promise to pursue union with God in all things, and holiness of life which will foster my love for the weakest among us. I further promise to engage in pro-life work, according to the spirituality and virtues of the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life, and to collaborate with their work to the best of my ability and within the context of my own vocation. I am confident that the Victory of Life has already been won through the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, and as the Church proclaims, celebrates, and serves the Gospel of Life, Christ will transform the Culture of Death into the Culture of Life."